and the embarrassing prostitution scandal around president obama's trip to colombia. more than 20 secret service and military personnel now under investigation. we begin with significant new and breaking developments in the allegations against security personnel charged with protecting president obama during his trip to colombia for a major international summit. i'm told the expanding investigation now involves more than 20 people. 11 secret service personnel and 10 department of defense personnel. government officials familiar with the case also tell me tonight, all 11 secret service personnel had their security clearances revoked effective today. effective today they can get those back if they are cleared. all 11 have been interviewed at least once by agency investigators. i'm told those under investigation for among other things bringing prostitutes back to a hotel secured for members of the american delegation were not all together. but had been socializing at

several cartagena nightclubs. peter king told wolf blitzer he's been told 11 women were brought back to the hotel where the secret service agents were staying. >> this is a serious, serious violation of everything the secret service stands for. what these 11 agents did put the potentially puts any president at risk. puts themselves at risk. leaves themselves open to blackmail and to threats. >> jessica yellin is here with me. as the investigation goes on, they are insisting the president was never at risk. that it's embarrassing. it's humiliating. but that he was never at risk. when you gauktalk about 11 secr service agencies, ten members of the military -- >> it's not ideal, john, to say the very least. the reason they say he wasn't at risk it was several days before the president orifd. and because they make the point that even if a housekeeper were to come into their room, they

are always careful about hide anything sensitive materials. never leaving out anything that could be compromising. at the same time i've spoken to a long list of former secret service agents today and some current government officials who say the one thing they are taught from day one is never mess with prostitutes because there's always a threat down the line of possible blackmail. >> i've known the director of the secret service mark sullivan for some time. he meets with every new agent and officer and briefs them and talks about character and the reputation of the agency and their own and specifically raises things like this. but he's the director. highly regarded i'm told by the ho homeland security secretary janet napolitano. >> the body language right now is, no, at this moment, let the secret service do its own investigation and let them handle it for now. as you point out, it's an election year. the president has to show leadership. there's a scandal at the general services administration. and the director of the secret service has been there since 2006 under his watch. we also saw the salahi scandal

when the kret service took responsibility for letting in the party crashers. so you know, that does suggest that this has been a long time director and perhaps something could come down the line. >> i covered the white house for 8 1/2 years. did a lot of thee trips. there is drinking involved. they are often in these clubs overseas. it was very obvious when prostitutes approached the american delegation. guys with money. sometimes the secret service, the military case, big strapping guys who -- everybody knows who you are is the point i'm trying to get at. but 11 secret service members. 10 members of the military. i did it for 8 1/2 years. never heard or saw anything like this. >> what was most surprising to me, and i agree. you get there early. you always see people will go out and there be some partying. i was surprised they took them back to the staff hotel. because there is always this culture within the secret service prove tecti iof protect of safety. even if the president is there

or if the hotel hasn't been secured yet. they're vigilant about making sure that hotel, even though the president wasn't going there, there was going to be white house staff, perhaps other administration staff there, and that's what was most surprising. >> may have ruined the careers of other friends, too. saw the security breach happening. other careers could be hurt as well. jess, thanks. today the chairman of the joint chiefs staff admitted to cnn the prostitution scandal was a distraction during the president's regional summit and the chairman apologized. >> we are embarrassed. i can't -- you said how embarrassed is the military? i can speak for myself and the -- my fellow chiefs were embarrassed by what occurred in colombia, though we're not exactly sure what it is. so we let the boss down because nobody is talking about what went on in colombia other than this incident. >> answering a question from our pentagon correspondent barbara starr. an extraordinary public apology

from the commander in chief's top military adviser. what's happening behind the scenes? what's the sense of the investigation? >> let's first look at the optics. general dempsey, of course the president's top military adviser saying we let the boss down. behind the scenes now, a full-blown investigation is under way. they believe that there are at least five members of the u.s. army that were involved in this situation and perhaps five more. a preliminary fact-finding investigation began already in colombia with someone -- a military person who was on the ground. an investigating officer is expected to land in cartagena later today and continue the investigation. they are going to talk to people. they are going to gather whatever information they can. but one of the things that's so fascinating here is, again, the discussion not directly involved with the president of the united states. only in support of his trip down there. but they will not say what these military people, what their job

actually was because anything, of course, to do with presidential security is always top secret. so we don't even know what these people were doing and the pentagon is indicating it may never say publicly what they were doing, what their official jobs were on this trip, john. >> barbara, the same question that's being asked about the secret service. is this a bad couple of days? bad couple of apples? maybe as many as ten in the military or is this a sign that perhaps this has happened before and there's a cultural problem. they just never got caught. >> well, it's the same thing you and jessica were just talking about to be very candid. of course there's drinking in the u.s. military and, of course, people in the u.s. military engage in prostitutes. that happens. but it's the question of doing this on the presidential trip. secretary panetta made it very clear when he was asked about this that he expects the u.s. military to behave appropriately around the world wherever they go and that this fell far short of standards. it is the same concern.

alcohol, behavior aside, were they open to the possibility of blackmail? were they open to being victims of criminal behavior? who exactly was in that hotel with them? john? >> barbara starr live at the pentagon. thanks so much. in a moment we'll have darrell issa what he's learning about the sex scandal and the spending scandal. and later, today's move to change judges in the case of the neighborhood guard who admits to shooting teenager trayvon martin. greetings from the windy city of chicago.

people here sure are friendly but some have had a hard time understanding my accent. so to make sure people get every word of the geico savings message i've been practicing how to talk like a true chicagoan. switching to geico could save you hundreds of dollars on car insurance... da bears. haha... you people sure do talk funny. geico®. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. standard keyless access, and standard leather-trimmed seats, then your choice is obvious. the lexus es. it's complete luxury in a class full of compromises.

see your lexus dealer. today is gonna be anry in aimportant day for us.mises. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and bring it online. attention on site, attention on site. now starting unit nine. some of the world's cleanest gas turbines are now powering some of america's biggest cities.

siemens. answers. classic and a feisty drama on capitol hill this afternoon. outraged lawmakers confronted the disgraced government gshls accused of wasting nearly $1 million of your tax money. dana bash was at today's hearing on the scandal at the general services administration or the gsa. >> reporter: one thing for republicans to criticize obama officials. when the committee's top democrat rips into them, you know it's bad. >> invited personal friends to the conference writing, and i quote, and this is simply incredible, quote, we'll get you

guys a room near us and we'll pick up the room tab. could be a blast. why not enjoy it while we have it and while we can. ain't going to last forever, end of quote. well, mr. nealy it stops now. >> reporter: mr. nealy is jeff nealy. the gsa official who organized the lavish 2010 las vegas conference costing taxpayers more than $800,000. thanks to a committee subpoena he showed up but wouldn't answer questions. >> on the advice of counsel, i respectfully decline to answer. >> reporter: with cameras rolling -- >> did you attend the 2010 western regional conference? >> reporter: darrell issa still asked half a dozen questions? neely was eventually excused. other gsa witnesses took a very different approach. fall on their swords? hardly. they dove on them. >> i am extremely aggrieved by the gall of a handful of people

to misuse federal tax dollars. >> reporter: martha johnson was gsa administrator forced to resign two weeks ago. she was briefed 11 months ago on a conference excess, including neely's role but suggested she needed the final report to take disciplinary action. >> i personally apologize to the american people. i will mourn for the rest of my life the loss of my appointment. >> reporter: much of the focus was on the man who left. jeff neely. they grilled johnson on why she still gave him a $9,000 bonus. >> and you gave him a $9,000 bonus. it just seems almost unthinkable. >> reporter: despite the apologies, this fiery forum allowed lawmakers to express outrage. >> the senior executives were entitled to bonuses. i apologize. i did not mean entitlement. >> i think you did mean entitlement. >> reporter: a central question is whether the white house knew about this and stat on the information. under pressure and visibly uncomfortable, the gsa chief of staff revealed he did brief the

white house some 11 months ago. in that questioning, john, the house chairman darrell issa got out of the chief of staff there that he told his contact in the white house counsel's office about the fact that this report is coming out almost a year ago. that seems to contradict the timeline that we got as reporters from the white house which said that they didn't know about this inspector general report until last month. i can tell you just to follow up on that, michael robertson, the gsa chief of staff put out a statement saying he wants to clarify his point and that what he meant was he mentioned in passing the existence of this ig report to his contact at the white house counsel's office. >> you mentioned that often at some of these oversight hearings the democrats are mute. the republicans are conducting oversight of a democratic association. the democrats are largely mute or try to help the white house. in this case, they were so adamant to jump in and share their outrage. where are we going next? >> where we're going next is

more hear,s like this. and to that point, not just in the house where republicans are in charge but also in the senate. two hearings are going to be this week in the senate. one by the number two democrat in the senate. he's holding a hearing. they're going to be trying to focus a little more on the fact that the gsa excess spending didn't just occur in the obama administration but democrats get it that they know that this is very, very bad. this is why people really are mad at washington. so they want to share in the outrage, not push back against it. >> senior congressional correspondent dana bash. as dana noted, the chairman today is darrell issa of california. he's with us live. let's dig a little deeper. you asked the question of the gsa chief of staff. now he's trying to clarify his answer saying he mentioned this is passing in the white house 11 months ago. the white house told dana in her reporting, oh, we just learned about this last month. smoke or fire? >> you know, it's a little of both. the real outrage should be that the white house would say they took quick action when, clearly, these political appointees knew

about it a long time ago. if it turns out that people more central to the white house, additionally, knew, that's troubling. but let's understand the most important thing that you saw on a bipartisan basis today is a recognition that there is huge amounts of waste and excess that is built up within the federal system that needs to be rung out. until we ring that out, we cannot come back with larger and larger budgets asking the american people and for that matter the creditors of our debt to pony up more money. very clearly, this is just the tip of the iceberg. >> so help me. if it's the tip of the iceberg, help me. you have mr. neely who was inviting his friends who knew what he was doing come in. i'm bad, but what the hell. let's do it while we can until we get caught. and he gets a bonus. how does that happen? >> it happens because you had an administrator, even though she had a private sector background, who seemed to use the word entitlement and mean it. you know, these bonuses are over

97% delivered to these individuals meaning that a bonus will not be earned but, in fact, expected. and it's part of the fact that you look at a pay structure with the federal workforce, including the one the president said he froze, and what you end up with is what's called step increases plus bonuses. so the truth is our cost of employing federal workers is rising even after somebody said there was a freeze. watching pay freezes in the government is like watching water freeze. it expands. >> and you heard dana say when it gets to the senate side, some of this conduct, they may find examples back in the bush administration. give me your honest take. is this a bureaucratic culture of corruption? is it any worse, any different with a democratic president or is this a longtime festering nightmare. >> bureaucracies tend to grow and to brag about their growth based on how many individuals they have and how much money they spend. there's no question every administration faces the federal growth of a bureaucracy. some administrations like the reagan administration famously were able to make cuts.

other administrations don't do so well. this is one that came in, blamed its predecessor and has had three years to scrub these expenses and clearly hasn't. so there's probably truth to both. the fact is, this is the president's watch. this is my watch. this is the ranking member's watch. and we need to make sure it not only ends here but ends quickly. >> this is embarrassing and outrageous. i want to shift your attention to something that's embarrass, outrageous and humiliating. 11 member thfs secret service accused of bringing prostitutes back to a hotel in cartagena, colombia. ten members of the united states military under investigation for similar conduct. what do you know about this, and at what level are you in connection is it the director of the secret service, the director of homeland security? >> i met with the director today and got his assurances we'd have an open and transparent policy being able to see what he's doing in the way of discovery and then ultimately corrective action. this is an organization with a

great history, a history of being disciplined. he was shocked at it. i'm shocked at it. the american people are shocked at it. obviously, if 11 secret service agents and 10 or more military personnel were involved, it's wide enough spread that you have to figure this is not the only time there's been this sort of activity. but at the same time, this is a nonpartisan organization. our u.s. military and the secret service. i think all of us on capitol hill need to take an attitude that we need to know what they are doing, watch it but ultimately let the professionals fix what is broken and then step forward and say we've seen what they've done and the american public can have the kind of confidence they need to have and the behavior that could lead to the safety being, you know, adversely affected for protected individuals. >> in the conversation with director sullivan, what was the most troubling thing. troubling allegation you heard? >> i think the most troubling thing from this director who headed the agency for a while and who in fact, is a 30-year

veteran himself is that this is not something he has personally witnessed. he has certainly seen human failures, but the scale of so many people thinking this was okay -- remember, foreign initi nationals are not allowed into the room. that was a violation, even if they weren't prostitutes. just the fact that somebody you don't know gets into a protected area and thus could have an adverse effect on that individual's ability to protect the president. on top of that, a lot of drinking went on. you put those two together, it's unprofessional behavior that has to be fixed now and in the future. >> mr. chairman, appreciate your time tonight. >> thank you. >> take care, sir. mitt romney says president obam should in his words, start packing. next, an unusually hot day. hot day to run 26 miles. as a police chief i have an opportunity to affect what happens in a major city.

i learned early on if you want to make a difference you have to have the right education. university of phoenix opened the door. my name is james craig, i'm committed to making a difference and i am a phoenix.

and here's what we did today: supported nearly 3 million steady jobs across our country... ... scientists, technicians, engineers, machinists... ... adding nearly 400 billion dollars to our economy... we're at work providing power to almost a quarter of our homes and businesses... ... and giving us cleaner rides to work and school... and tomorrow, we could do even more. cleaner, domestic, abundant and creating jobs now. we're america's natural gas. the smarter power, today. learn more at anga.us. i tell you what i can spend. i do my best to make it work. i'm back on the road safely. and i saved you money on brakes.

that's personal pricing.

welcome back. here's lisa sylvester with the latest news you need to know right now. >> hi, john. afghanistan's president today praised his security forces which took the lead in putting down a wave of insurgent attacks. about 18 hours of fighting came to an end this morning leaving 36 insurgents dead. afghan president hamid karzai tells cnn's christiane amanpour he isn't worried the security situation will deteriorate after u.s. and international troops pull out. >> no, i'm not concerned about that at all. i am rather very confident that

once the international forces leave, that the afghan forces will be able to defend their country as they demonstrated yesterday. >> and back in the united states, more than 120 tornadoes tore through the midwest and plains this past weekend. and early warnings are credited with saving many potential victims. the death toll rose to six people today, but the worst damage and only known casualties were found in woodwad, oklahoma, where hundreds of homes are destroyed. in and boston shut down as more than 22,000 marathon runners raced through 80-degree weather. about 4,000 runners dropped out of the annual marathon because of the unseasonable heat. and the winning times were the slowest reported since 1985. even so, the top winners, all kenyans, beat the grueling conditions and the difficult course. even though it was the slowest time since 1985 it was 2 hours,

12 minutes, 40 seconds. >> back in -- right after that, '86, '87, i used to work in boston and used to help at the finish line. kenyans always do very well. but the boston marathon has always been big. great to see it. patriots day we call it in the world's great city. >> your town. >> 11:00 a.m. start for the red sox, although they lost. defense in the trayvon martin murder trial already wants a new judge, and they may get one. we'll take a look at what's likely behind that switch. ralph reed joins us to look over new polls showing mitt romney, well, with a lot of ground to make up.

♪[music plays] there's another way to help erase litter box odor. purina tidy cats. only tidy cats has new odor erasers... making it easy to keep things at home... just the way you want them. new tidy cats with odor erasers.

you know, typical alarm clock. i am so glad to get rid of it. just to be able to wake up in the morning on your own. that's a big accomplishment to me. i don't know how much money i need. but i know that whatever i have that's what i'm going to live within. ♪ ♪ ca. ♪ we've got to protect the environment. the economists make some good points. we need safer energy. [announcer:] who's right? they all are. visit powerincooperation.com.

this half hour, a new judge could take over the trayvon martin case. what it means for the neighborhood watchman now accused of murder. new cnn polls show mitt romney's biggest weaknesses and his greatest strength. we're breaking down the numbers showing where the president might be vulnerable. plus, "discovery" mounted on a jumbo jet ready for one last night. no, not heading to space this time. the lawyer for the neighborhood watchman who admits to shooting trayvon martin wants a new trial judge. just this afternoon, george zimmerman's attorney filed charges to get the current judge removed from the case over a possible conflict of interest. it's because her husband's law partner is mark nejame, a cnn analyst who was approached by zimmerman to possibly take on

the job of defending him. a new judge could have a huge impact on how the second-degree murder case plays out in the courtroom. let's talk it over with our legal analyst sunny hostin. why is this a big deal? >> any time you have a judge that's asked to be recused and you get a new judge, it sort of changes the color of the case. i think we saw that in the casey anthony case. it's really about the judge when it comes down to how a case is tried. the track of the case. the timeliness of the case. everything comes from the top down. so this is actually very, very important. i suspect, john, i suspect that we will see a new judge in this case. if there is a conviction in a high-profile case like this there's no question there will be an appeal and you don't want sort of this appear achbs impropriety in terms of a conflict of interest for the judge. so i suspect that one would want to just avoid that altogether. >> so let's take a look at the three most likely options from that area.

judge john galuzo, kenneth lester, honorable debra steinberg nelson. >> they certainly are different from the judge that has been assigned the case. she's a very new judge. she's only been on the bench for a little over a year. these are seasoned judges. judge galuzo was appointed by governor jeb bush in 2006, about a year after the stand your ground law was enacted. judge kenneth lester, 1996. judge deborah steinberg nelson, 1999. also appointed by governor jeb bush. why that is important, john is because we know mark o'mara has been an attorney for quite some time and may have appeared in front of these judges. any attorney in any case but a serious high-profile case like this will want to appear in front of a judge he or she has appeared in front of and has some sort of rapport. i suspect that also went into the asking for this judge to recuse herself. she's sort of an unknown factor.

these judges are more known factors, at least to this defense team. >> this impacted all the planned bond hearing on friday? >> i think it's very possible. the bond hearing is set for this friday. and if there's going to be a new judge, that new judge needs to get up to speed on this case. and so i suspect if there is a new judge we may not see that bond hearing happen on friday. >> sunny hostin on top of this case. thanks. let's shift to politics. a new cnn polling out tonight has lots of bad news for mitt romney. not only is he trailing president obama 52% to 43%, but a closer look shows he has an especially tough chance in woink women voters. he trails the president 49% to 46% among men. among women, the president leads 55% to 39%. you can do the math. that's a 16-point gender gap. gloria borger has been digging into the numbers. there's always a democrat, always a gender gap with the

democrats, but one that big you can't win. >> no, you can't win, which is why we're seeing the romney campaign put out ann romney so much lately. why they are going to start appealing to women on the issue of the economy because women, of course, vote on the economy. they take care of their parents. they are involved in the issue of health care reform, for example. they take care of their children. so those are going to be issues you're going to be hearing over and over again. not going to be so much the cultural issues but the economic issues. >> if you look beneath that, a clear plan for solving the country's plans. obama 38%, romney 33%. among independents, 33%/31%. those are slightly better for romney. it's competitive numbers especially after a bruising primary process where the other guy doesn't have an opponent. that's not bad. >> those are the closest numbers you get for mitt romney. what it shows you there and it's not rocket science it shows you that the president's vulnerability is, of course, the economy. if things go well, six months

from now, well, you can expect those numbers to be further apart and barack obama will be doing a lot better. but if things start going south, then you'll see independent voters, probably move over to mitt romney. so that is their key opportunity. the economy. again, not a surprise here. >> the most striking thing if you look at it is romney is competitive when you ask the policy questions. it's on the humanity questions where you see the gap. look at these. more likable, obama 56, romney, 27%. in touch with women, obama, 55%, romney 27%. strong leader, 50 to 34. stands up for what he believes in, 50 to 29. on the personal characteristics, understands me, call it humanity or empathy, romney has to change those numbers. >> the likablity number is the number that i always look at. here a 29-point difference. likablity means that people will give president obama the benefit of the doubt if he makes a

mistake or they think he does something that they don't really like. that matters to people. the benefit of the doubt is important when you are running for the presidency. people want to like you. it's a personal vote they cast. 29-point deficit there means that mitt romney has to start changing his appeal a little bit and open up to the american public. let them know who he is. >> the time to do it but that's a steep hill to climb. 200 days. it's only april. it's not over yet. but advantage obama in april. we'll see if the numbers shift as we go. you are shaking your head. >> it's a long time. six months, whatever it is. >> it's a long time. >> george h.w. bush can tell you he had really good numbers right now at this time back in 1992. we'll see how it goes. the president may have a lead in the polls but mitt romney says he's ready for the fight challenging critics who say he can't relate to average americans. romney says he can fix the economy and pretty tough message for the president. >> start packing. that's what i'd like to say.

obviously, we have a very different view. the president, i'm sure, wants another four years, but the first years didn't go so well. and i'd say, mr. president, focus on your policies and ask, did they make it more likely for businesses to start? did your policies make it more likely for businesses to hire people? >> romney's focus on his economic expertise, twill be enough to help him overcome the president's big early lead. joining me, ralph reed, a veteran strategist and founder of the faith and freedom coalition. the poll numbers, the national horse race, pretty tough if you are governor romney. the gender gap, very tough if your governor romney. i want to look at his under 50 problem. if you make under $50,000 a year, obama, 56%, romney 36%. among the blue collar voters, advantage obama. if you are under the age of obama, obama 56, romney 37. so younger voters, big

advantage. how do you -- you can turn numbers around. it's only problem. he's got a lot of numbers he has to turn around. >> the dynamic of the race is going to change. at this point, in 1992, "time" magazine had bill clinton on its cover as a reverse negative. he was upside down. he was trailing the incumbent president george bush by 15 points. at this point in 1980, reagan was behind jimmy carter by seven points. so, you know, elections aren't held in april. the other thing you have to ceremony this was the most contentious, hard fought drawn out nomination battle since 1976. so what the romney campaign really needs is two things. number one, they need what lee atwater used to call defining moments in a campaign. particularly those that are unscripted, that allow people to see the man that those of us who know mitt romney see behind the blue curtain. in bill clinton's case, playing the saxophone on arseenio hall and in george w. bush's case, going on oprah. remember he famously kissed her

on the cheek and people saw a different side. he needs some spot nayity and to show his other side. the second thing that he needs to do is to be able to get this message back on the economy. >> you talk about that. and you also talk about how you have to learn from the people you just beat. it's not officially over yet. it's an interesting essay in "the washington post." santorum and his supporters may have the last laugh. in our time, losing presidential candidates have previewed the ideological trajectory of their parties and often the nation. romney would be ways to remember this in his general election campaign. you made the reagan example. reagan lost and then came back and won. he was the future of the party even after losing. what does romney have to do today and tomorrow to learn that lesson? >> the two things i talked about were, number one, santorum was able to fuse the kultsureal and economic message by pointing out you can't strengthen the economy without strengthening the family. he often cited a brookings institute study which found that if you had a job, graduated from high school and waited until you were married to have children,

that you only had a 2% chance of being in poverty. if you did the opcyst those three things you had about a 76% chance of being in poverty. romney can make it clear that poverty and being left behind in our economy isn't just a fiscal or economic issue. it's a cultural and a moral issue. the second thing that he needs to do is flush out his own biography. i talk about the fact that when the night of the iowa caucuses, santorum, i think in the best speech he gave the entire campaign spoke movingly about his italian immigrant grandfather. the truth is, romney's family came from nothing. ing his -- his grandfather was a carpenter and his father started from nothing. he needs to flush out that biography and reintroduce himself. >> i've known you almost 20 years. someone who identifies people, finds them, keeps in touch and grabs them by the ear and gets them to the polls. obama has had a year and a lot of money and resources. this is all they are doing. finding voters, registering

voters, building their list. your convinced governor romney and with help of outside organizations, can they catch up to that huge advantage team obama has in terms of doing the nuts and bolts of wainning a general election? >> isn't the '08 version of hope and change and no blue states or red states. it's the united states. this is after obama care, after a stimulus plan that didn't create the number of jobs that he said it would. he's as polarizing a figure as anybody we've had. so there's going to be some intensity. but for romney to actually win and this was the other point i made in the essay. people can't just be voting against obama. they need to be voting for romney and his running mate so the running mate will be important. the convention acceptance speech will be important and the general election messaging will be important. >> ralph, we'll keep in touch. appreciate you coming in. 200 days. coming up, the search is officially on for governor romney's running mate. the truth about some potential number twos and maybe a wild card. we'll be right back.

♪ i'm michael bazinet,

president of creative digital imaging of bangor, maine. we have customers all over the united states. we rely on the postal service for everything that we do. the eastern maine processing facility is vital to our operation and our success. if we lose this processing facility we could lose clientele because of increased mailing times. we would have to consider layoffs as a result of that. closure of this plant will affect all of us. ♪

i speak tonight's truth with absolute certainty. beth meyers will not pull a dick cheney. meyers if you haven't heard, was just named by mitt romney to lead his search for a running mate. most of you have never heard of beth myers. and that's the point. governor romney wants a serious low-key process. and myers is as serious and low

key as they come. plus, she is as trusted as they come in romney land. someone who has earned governor romney's trust back to her days as his chief of staff at the massachusetts state house. so now that the official process is getting started, we're going to do it here and you should do at home, pay attention to our unofficial list. senator rob portman of ohio leads the safe and solid list. he is popular back home in the state republicans must carry to win the white house. florida's marco rubio, you might say he leads the young and untested category. very popular with the party base, but just 15 months into his senate career. the sarah palin experiment of 2008 makes untested even more of a hurdle this cycle. governor romney says nice things about palin, but top romney advisers a view the palin pick and the mccain campaign selection process as simply not serious. romney was vetted in that process. just trust his search. now under the direction of myers to be more methodical. much more methodical. there are other predictables for any early list.

chris christie and bob mcdonnell and mitch daniels. a good reason to think about a woman. a brand new cnn polling we were just talking about. a giant gender gap. a 16-point obama lead in a head-to-head matchup with romney among women. my wild card there, condoleezza rice, though she says she insists she isn't interested. but remember, they all say that. just ask dick cheney. for more on the veepstakes, we turn to my panel. democrat iic strategist donna brazile and bay buchanan and adviser to the romney campaign. let me start with my republican friend here. if you are asked right now, if beth myers calls you and says, give me an idea. who would be the dream veep? >> there are so many. i'm not going to pick one. the key is, pick someone -- the key -- when you come to vice president, i think the rule is, do no harm. mind someone who is going to do no hammer whatsoever and someone who is completely and absolutely

ready to be president of the united states. entirely competent and ready to take in and so the american people feel extremely good that the team is complete and they can rely on the vice president for doing what he needs to do. >> to that point, can mitt romney who is a very serious guy, very methodical, can he look the american people in the eye, a lot of the party base wants marco rubio. can you look the american people in the eye, especially after the palin experiment and say he's ready to be president? >> well, i think there is a way in which the palin episode has raised the bar a little bit. people will be asking that question. they'll look very closely. they'll have -- they'll say are you doing this for political reasons? in the retelling of this last campaign, a lot of sense is that palin was just a way to gin up excitement. that bar may be a little higher. but i do think the more we're talking about people now in some way, the less likely we tor see them get picked in the end. i think what these campaigns are looking for is the unexpected. something exciting fop -- so to some degree people we talk to right now i have a feel meg not

be there in the final analysis. >> doa, do you think marco rubio is saying miami herald, "wall street journal," ah, never mind. here's something dan quayle who has been through this process, here's something he says. you're number two, not number one. and if you're out there actively campaigning, there's a subliminal message you won't be that comfortable in the number two position. is that something as romney looks around for those saying not me, not me and those raising their profile? >> i'll never forget when then vice president al gore called us into the room and the short list was available and he came -- i was the first person. i always sat on his left for whatever reason. and he said, well, donna, what about you. i said joe lieberman was, bonn, i knew joe lieberman was up to the job of being president. and, secondly, i didn't see him out there campaigning. so i said joe lieberman. this time around, i suspect that

mitt romney will look for somebody the tea party will endorse, embrace and become energized about. >> john you indicated that is marco rubio, you know, ready to be the president? he's only had two years in the senate. does that not describe barack obama? that's exactly where he was. only had a couple of years. when it comes to qualifications, please. marco rubio is completely qualified to be president. i don't know that he'll be on the short list. but let's not suggest that that particular person is not ready. >> there's no question. and he was a speaker of the florida house. he has more legislative experience, probably, he probably has as much as the current president. my point is if you are governor romney do you want to be engaged in that situation if you are trying to make up your lead in the polls. this is another big issue. the president and vice president released their taxes last week. governor romney, as he's perfectly he's going to file an extension, we'll get them soon. he did give us the rough numbers. but to the question the obama campaign said release 12 years.

the president is going to try to do everything possible to divert attention from being focused upon his record as president and the failure of his economic policies. do a degree he's right. he's an incumbent and you want to make it other than your record or the parts of your record that could be trouble to you. however, in this age can governor romney, can he stick with the idea i'm not going to give you a deep reservoir, maybe six years or eight years, but a deeper reservoir of his tax records? >> irs doesn't even ask you to keep the records that long so it's an absurd request. i don't think he needs to go into defense. i think he will give them everything he needs to give them and then run on the issues. if this president and the democrats think they can tie up governor romney over you only gave three, you should give six, it's ridiculous. the reason he's doing it is because his policies have totally failed and the american people recognize that, so he

cannot run on that field. he cannot run on the field of the economy. he has to change the top sglik he has a great record to run on. 23 months of consecutive job growth. the fact that he got us out of the big hole bush/cheney put us in and mitt romney will further dig us in that hole. look, we've had a tradition of people running for president releasing their taxes. it's not about how much money he made. we hire him to do a job. what's wrong with showing us your tax returns. >> can he do something between 2 and 12 and satisfy this test? >> i think it's a lose-lose for him. i think on the key substantive question you're seeing right here, the debate each side has a point. we don't know which way the economy is headed. that's why i think the next couple of months will cast the dye for this election. is the next jobs number going to be worse? what is the trajectory? >> how people feel when they go back to school will have a lot more to say than it does right now. >> the economy six months out people start making their mind up just about now.

>> erin burnett outfront coming up at the top of the hour. erin, the senate expected to reject the so-called buffet rule, the 30% tax on millionaires. are you surprised? >> not surprised at all. this is just a political ploy on both sides of sort of epic proportions, john. i have to say one thing. politically it's very clear the president is a winner here. now you have republicans shooting it down and that gives him more fire power. but we actually break down the numbers on whether the buffet rule actually matters, does anything and has anything to do with fairness or whether that is politics. that and a billionaire to answer some of the tough questions about whether he's willing to pay more. top of the hour, back to you. >> i'll be there to watch that. erin, we'll see you in a few minutes. the shuttle "discovery" has one last mission, and you see it right there, mounted on the back of a jumbo jet. and hillary clinton lets loose and grabs a beer during an after-midnight dance party. more pictures of that, an international sensation, coming up.

[ male announcer ] the cadillac cts sport sedan was designed with near-perfect weight balance from front to back... and back to front. ♪ giving you exceptional control from left to right... and right to left. ♪ the cadillac cts. ♪ we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs. and it hasn't been going exactly as planned. [ director ] cut. cut! [ monica ] i thought we'd be on location for 3 days -- it's been 3 weeks. so i had to pick up some more things. good thing i've got the citi simplicity card. i don't get hit with a fee if i'm late with a payment... which is good because on this job,

no! bigger! [ monica ] i may not be home for a while. [ male announcer ] the citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries.

no late fees. no penalty rate. i have two products in front of you. we are going to start with product x. this is a very affordable product that will help save you a, lot of money. i like it.. i like it too. this is product y. this is a much more expensive product. you will not see a lot of savings with this one... harsh.

you chose geico and you did not choose their competitor. was this your first car insurance taste test? the space shuttle squt -- "discovery" is retired but it will take off one more time tomorrow, headed to a smithsonian museum in virginia. here's cnn's john zarrella. >> reporter: really the exclamation point to the end of the space shuttle era here, behind me you can see "discovery" on the back of that 747. tomorrow morning at first light, it will leave here. it will fly over launch pad 39-a

where it lifted off from so many times, then down the coastline, over the beaches, back up over kennedy and the visitor complex before flying up the east coast to washington, d.c., and dulles. busloads of workers came out here today to say their goodbyes to "discovery." it flew 139 missions, more than any of the other shuttles and now it's permanent home is at the smithsonian. there is still -- again, john, bittersweet as some of the astronauts who flew on the very last space shuttle "discovery" flight told me today, the end of an era, but it is time to move on. >> "discovery" will be right here in our neighborhood. here's lisa sylvester with the

news you need to know. u.n. observers are monitoring the cease-fire in syria, even as new reports say it's being violated by the syrian government. the city of idlib was attacked pie helicopters and mortars and 45 people died today. syria's news agency calls the reports hysterically escalated. he's got a new heart but not a lot of love for president obama. dick cheney was quick to criticize the president only three weeks after his heart transplant. here's what he had to say. >> i can't think of a time when i felt it was more important for us to defeat an incumbent president than today with respect to to barack obama. i think he has been an unmitigated disaster. >> and finally, our congratulations to cnn contributor sara ganm who won one of this year's pulitzer

prizes. the patriot news won for breaking and covering the penn state sex scandal. she's the second youngest pulitzer winner ever. congratulations to her. >> congratulations, sara. she was extraordinarily helpful as that story was unfolding. good for her. that's a nice early prize. top that, sara. good luck. finally tonight's moment you may have missed. secretary of state hillary clinton squeezed in some fun at the summit of americas, cutting loose in colombia with her version of salsa dancing. she danced with her aides saturday at cafe havana. that's pretty cool. >> i love that. i think that's going to be great for her image. you go, madam secretary. >> she is allowed to have her fun, people. she works hard, she's allowed to have a little fun. she can tip, let's put it there. >> and everybody has a life outside of the job and we just happened to see it. there it is. >> we'll see you